In a lengthy post on Halo Waypoint, Halo 5 developer 343 Industries attempts to explain why it has eliminated split-screen cooperative play from the game. Split screen co-op play has been in every Halo game to-date until Halo 5, and fans have strongly expressed their displeasure in it being removed.

343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross says that her company has learned valuable lessons from skipping beta tests for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and has no plans to repeat that mistake with the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians. Speaking to Engadget at E3 this week, Ross noted that a different team is working on Halo 5, though she still takes full responsibility for the lackluster, early performance of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Halo 5 will have in-game currency that can be used to buy in-game enhancements. According to this post on Halo Waypoint, the game will feature REQ Points, which players can earn after competing in Warzone or Arena multiplayer. Players can also earn these points by leveling up their Spartan Rank and completing Commendations in multiplayer. These points can be used to purchase unlockable weapons, armor, skins, assassination animations, etc.

Yesterday we reported that Halo 5: Guardians would not require an Xbox Live Gold subscription in order to play. The news came from an interview conducted by Game Informer with 343 Industries studio head John Holmes.

National Entertainment Collectibles Association and Halo developers 343 Industries announced a deal to create a series of Halo-branded merchandise way back in late 2013. One of the most interesting parts of the deal was a motorcycle helmet inspired by the iconic helmet worn by series protagonist Master Chief.

While pricing and the exact date have not been disclosed, NECA has finally revealed that it will be shipping in July of this year. They also have some early shots of the helmet on its official website (link below).

A major update that further tweaks and refines matchmaking in Halo: The Master Chief Collection is being tested by 343 Industries, according to what the developer says in a lengthy Halo Waypoint post. Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been plagued with connectivity and matchmaking issues since launch, much to the chagrin of players who wanted to play the remastered collection of Halo games to play against other people online.

If you didn't buy the Halo: The Master Chief Collection and aren't an Xbox One Preview member, then you cannot play the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta at the moment. But if you are itching to play the game then there's another way you can do so all this weekend: visit your local Best Buy. The retailer announced today that over 50 U.S. stores will offer some hands on time with Halo 5 during select store hours.

If you bought Halo: The Master Chief Collection you probably already know that you are entitled to join in on the Halo 5 multiplayer beta.

Will it make up for all the problems you may have encountered while trying to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection online? Probably not, but it might make you feel better, assuming the whole affair is stable at launch...

The multiplayer beta started this morning, as announced by the official Halo Twitter account:

Late last week Halo series chief and 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross apologized once again for the sorry state of online play in Master Chief Collection anthology on Xbox One since its launch in November, and vowed to deliver a patch and some free stuff for Halo fans to make things right. While Ross did not provide an ETA on the update or the free stuff in the pipeline, she did offer some details on what the company is working on.

A brand new update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been released offering some new tweaks and fixes to matchmaking, parties, the roster, and more. According to the Halo Waypoint web site, the following changes are in the latest update:

A new update to once again attempt to solve the problems with matchmaking in Microsoft's and 343 Industries' Halo: The Master Chief Collection is due for release later this week. A new post on Halo Waypoint lays out in vague terms what the update will do:

The latest episode of Because Science (from the folks at The Nerdist) applies real-world science to the life-destroying ringworlds in Halo - no doubt in honor of the Master Chief Collection being released this week for Xbox One.

In "How Could We Build A HALO Ringworld?," host Kyle Hill tries to figure out how one would build such a devastating device:

This Reddit post is keeping track of all the problems that users have experienced with the freshly released Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The most frequently mentioned issue seems to be with online multiplayer matchmaking.

343 executive producer Dan Ayoub apologized for the launch day trouble and noted in a new Halo Waypoint post that tweaks, fixes and improvements will be applied to matchmaking through several server updates today:

Microsoft has launched the Halo: The Master Chief Collection today for Xbox One, and its popularity among players has proven a challenge to the company online.

This morning Xbox issued a service alert warning players that some of the game collection's features were not working temporarily. Right now purchase and content usage related to the game and some social gaming features are currently experiencing problems.

In its alert Microsoft issued a statement on both issues, saying that it was aware of the problems and already working on them.

Microsoft and 343 Industries are inviting fans to a celebration of all things Halo as they broadcast special sneak peeks, interviews and exclusive gameplay to the world on Xbox Live, Xbox.com and Twitch. This event is to get fans amped up for the Nov. 11 release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall. Microsoft will broadcast its HaloFest 2014 celebration from the Avalon Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 10 beginning at 8 p.m. - the day before Halo: The Master Chief Collection arrives worldwide.

Microsoft says that it has sold more than 60 million Halo titles worldwide since the franchise debuted on the original Xbox thirteen years ago - Halo: Combat Evolved. This number is up substantially from the 50 million sold milestone announced in December of 2012.

That massive figure includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo Wars, Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Microsoft also claims that gamers have played various Halo titles for more than 6 billion hours on Xbox Live over the years.

Bungie's 2007 first-person shooter hit Halo 3 is now available as a free download to Xbox Live Gold subscribers as part of Microsoft's Games with Gold program. The game normally sells for $15. In the first half of the month Microsoft offered the puzzle-RPG Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes for free.

This Reddit thread reveals a grand and charitable deed that Bungie did for a very sick little boy in Seattle, as detailed by The Escapist. According to the Reddit thread, Seattle-based Reddit user fiscal_ reached out to Bungie asking them to send something to his five year old son who was in the process of getting a liver transplant.

According to an announcement from 343 Industries community manager Jessica Shea posted on Halo Waypoint, multiplayer servers for the PC windows version of Halo 2 will go dark on February 15. So why would 343 Industries shut down those servers? Because, as Shea points out, nobody seems to be using them anymore:

"We're sad to report that the service end-date for Halo 2 PC Multiplayer will be February 15, 2013," reads the post.

Microsoft has indicated to the Xbox 360 community that it is aware of problems with Halo 4 season pass holders not being able to download the Crimson Map Pack that was released today. The company says that it is investigating the cause of this and working on a solution. Instead of being able to simply download the Crimson Map Pack, season pass holders are being asked to pay 800 MS Points prior to download. The season pass costs a flat fee enabling purchasers to grab all the downloadable content upon release for free.

Last week, GameSpot reported that Halo 4 executive producer Kiki Wolfkill and 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross had said "there is zero tolerance for Xbox Live players who are found to be making sexist or discriminatory comments against others, with a lifetime ban from the network as penalty."

Yep, Halo 4 is now available at retail! Of course, as a Nintendo fanboy, I don’t give a toss but some people are excited. So excited in fact that Fox News suggests some may forego the polls and instead elect to stay home and play Master Chief’s latest adventure.

Some poor guy that dressed up like Master Chief to give a presentation on behalf of Microsoft's Xbox 360 launch in Israel called games other than Halo - and no doubt other than Halo 4 which releases today in regions around the world - girly. Besides being a poor choice of words that will likely be construed as misogynistic and sexist, Master Chief may not realize that a good portion of the military in Israel is comprised of women. Oops.

American Express and Xbox have teamed up to offer "automatic real-time rewards" for playing Halo 4, according to this GamesBeat report. Players will be able to play Halo 4, complete levels and win rewards like cash back, coupons, and - if they are extra lucky - a trip to the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Shout box

Infophile: @Matt: Apparently Dan Aykroyd actually is involved. We don't know how yet, though, but he's apparently going to be in the movie in some way.08/02/2015 - 4:17am

Mattsworkname: I still hold that not having the origonal cast invovled in any way hurts this movie, and unless the 4 actresses in the lead roles can some how measure up to the comic timing of the origonal cast, i just don't see it being a success08/02/2015 - 12:46am

Mattsworkname: Mecha: regardless of what you think of it, GB 2 was a finanical success and for it time did well with audiances ,even if it wasnt as popular as the first08/02/2015 - 12:45am

MechaTama31: I think they're better off trying to do something different, than trying to be exactly the same and having every little difference held up as a shortcoming. Uncanny valley.08/01/2015 - 11:57pm

MechaTama31: Having the original cast didn't do much for... that pink-slimed atrocity which we must never speak of.08/01/2015 - 11:56pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: If the new ghostbusters bombs, I cant help but feel it'll be cause it removed the origonal cast and changed the formula to much08/01/2015 - 8:31pm

Andrew Eisen: Not the best look but that appears to be a PKE meter hanging from McCarthy's belt.08/01/2015 - 7:34pm

Mattsworkname: You know what game is a lot of fun? rocket league. It' s a soccer game thats actually fun to play cause your A Freaking CAR!08/01/2015 - 7:02pm

Mattsworkname: Nomad colossus did a little video about it, showing the world and what can be explored in it's current form. It's worth a look, and he uses text for commentary as not to break the immerison08/01/2015 - 5:49pm

Mattsworkname: I feel some more mobility would have made it more interesting and I feel that a larger more diverse landscape with better graphiscs would help, but as a concept, it interests me08/01/2015 - 5:48pm

Andrew Eisen: Huh. I guess I'll have to check out a Let's Play to get a sense of the game.08/01/2015 - 5:47pm

Mattsworkname: It did, I found the idea of exploring a world at it's end, exploring the abandoned city of a disappeared alien race and the planets various knooks and crannies intriqued me.08/01/2015 - 5:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Did it appeal to you? If so, what did you find appealing?08/01/2015 - 5:43pm

Mattsworkname: Its an interesting concept, but it's not gonna appeal to everyone thats for sure,08/01/2015 - 5:40pm

Andrew Eisen: That sounds horrifically boring. Doesn't sound like an interesting use of its time dilation premise either. 08/01/2015 - 5:36pm

Mattsworkname: an observer , seeing this sorta frozen world and being able to explore without any restriction other then time. no enimes, no threats, just the chance to explore08/01/2015 - 5:34pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: I meant lifeless planet, Time frame is an exploration game. Your dropped onto a world which is gonna be hit by a metor in 10 seconds, but due to time dilation ,you actually have ten minutes, so you can explore the world, in it's last moments, as08/01/2015 - 5:32pm